CHAPTER TWELVE
Tanner’s head was still spinning a little as he got out of the shower.
He’d been drunk last night. Like … drunky, drunk, drunk. He hadn’t puked—which was probably why he was still feeling it this morning—but he’d had funnnnnnnnn.
He was hard to beat.
Losing sucked, but they’d done their very best, and as Dustin Fowler had reminded them, there was always next year.
Or at least they were all hoping this tournament happened again next year. Or that the league would allow them to play in the Olympics again.
Either way, Team USA was damn good, but not quite ready to beat the longtime champs from Canada yet, apparently. It had been a much closer game than anyone had anticipated and most of them believed that with a slight shift in luck they would have pulled it off.
After post-game stuff and media, Team USA had gone out to dinner as a group. It hadn’t been sad at all and between Tanner and Matty, they’d had guys laughing over drinks in no time.
Dinner had led to a trip to the bar, and it had been late but not crazy late when Tanner got back to the hotel. He’d texted Leif once he was back in his room and he’d come over. Tanner had been hoping for sex, but Leif had taken one look at him, snorted, and said, “no fucking way.”
They’d ended up cuddled in bed, talking until Tanner passed out.
This morning, they’d managed some nice lazy handjobs under the covers before Leif went back to his room to pack and have breakfast with the remaining Nordic Team guys. He had a few hours to relax before he got a ride to the airport and flew home to New York.
Tanner would head back to Boston, but his flight was a few hours after Leif’s.
Now, as Tanner dried off and tossed the towel on the vanity—where it promptly slid to the floor—he smiled.
It had been a great tournament all around. He was psyched to have been invited and played well. Not perfectly. There was always shit to learn and ways to get better, but that was half of the fun, right?
Tanner wandered naked into his room, stopping when he spotted a takeout cup of coffee and what looked like a breakfast sandwich on the desk.
He hurried over, smiling when he saw there was a note in neat, perfect writing. Thought you might need this. -Leif
Ohh, that was why Leif had left, then come back to the room while Tanner was still in the shower. He’d assumed Leif had forgotten something. But that was more Tanner’s thing, really.
“I might be a little bit in love with you right now, Princess,” Tanner muttered to himself, then laughed because he could just imagine the face Leif would make if he said that to him.
Leif wouldn’t get that Tanner didn’t mean it that way. He totally loved everyone he hooked up with a tiny bit. Or, like, felt like they had a special place in his heart anyway, even if the details of their hookups blurred together after a while.
It wasn’t true love. Not the kind that Jesse and Connor had or Rafe and Mickey, or Graham and Thad had. Not the way his mom loved his stepdad, Jeff, and he loved her back.
But, like … squishy heart feelings that might not mean forever but definitely meant something good in the moment.
Today, as Tanner drank the coffee and crammed the egg, ham, and cheese breakfast sandwich in his mouth, he had extra big squishy heart feelings for Leif for sure.
I needed that, he thought as he tossed the empty containers toward the trash can. The cup went in, the crumpled wrapper bounced out to land on the carpet. Meh, close enough.
Fortified, he got dressed, did his hair, and even remembered to grab his phone and key card before he left for the team meeting/breakfast.
When Tanner walked into the meeting room, he was psyched to see that there was a breakfast buffet laid out and he wasn’t even the last one to show up for it.
Tanner loaded his plate with food for his second breakfast, got more coffee, then sat down at an empty spot. Next to him, Trevor Underhill sat with the hood of his sweatshirt up, sunglasses on, and a cup of coffee clutched in his hand.
Tanner snickered. “Rough morning?”
“So rough. Forgot the electrolytes. Wade’s gonna kill me,” he muttered.
Grinning, Tanner took a big bite of pancakes. “You’re not a very good influence on your stepson.”
“Wade and I aren’t married,” Trevor pointed out.
“You’re still the dad who stepped up.”
Trevor threw a balled-up napkin at him. “Are you seriously quoting that ‘I’m not the stepdad but the dad that stepped up’ shit at me?”
“Well, it’s true right?”
“I guess. Wade’s partner bailed before they even got Brayden home from the hospital and he’s a teenager now so I’m not sure that really applies to us.”
Tanner shrugged. “You’re still helping Wade raise him, right? You’re a family.”
“Yeah. Of course. I mean, I do my best with Brayden.” He set his coffee cup down and rubbed his forehead. “Not so great today, but …”
“What’s not so great?” Matty sat down on Tanner’s other side.
“This guy’s hangover,” Tanner told him, jerking his thumb in Trevor’s direction. “How are you?”
Matty looked amazing. He was also wearing team sweats—most of them were, to be honest—but he looked hydrated and well-rested.
He beamed. “Great! All packed. As soon as the meeting is over, I’m heading to the airport. Can’t wait to get home to see my man and my babies.”
“Aren’t some of your kids teenagers?” Trevor asked.
“Alexis and Eli are. But they’re still my babies.” He smiled proudly.
Tanner tuned out once the guys started talking kids. He was happy for them, and he missed the shit out of his little sisters, but he wasn’t really sure he wanted kids for himself.
He wondered if Leif did, then wondered why he cared.
That reminded Tanner that he hadn’t sent Leif a message thanking him for the first breakfast. He did that and by the time he was done, Pat Fleming stood at the front of the room.
He gave a little speech about how well the guys had played, that he was proud of them, and that he knew they were hungry for a win in the future.
It was good stuff but it kinda flowed in one ear and out the other and Tanner was having the hardest time sitting still. He fiddled with the zipper on his hoodie until the guys near him started giving him the side-eye, probably at the noise.
His throat tightened and he glanced down, tucking his hands under his thighs. There, now he wouldn’t bother anyone.
But as Pat Fleming kept droning on, Tanner could hardly stand it and he jiggled his knee, which instantly felt better. But Trevor glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and he stopped with a sigh.
Damn it!
Tanner felt the brush of Matty’s knuckles against his thigh and he glanced over to see Matty holding out a brightly colored ball to him. Tanner huffed because he wasn’t a child, but Matty kept holding it out, nudging him in the thigh again.
Tanner scowled but took it, giving it an experimental squeeze. Oooh, it was kinda squishy and nice though.
In his lap, he juggled it between his palms and squished it and finally, finally the talk was over.
“You sure you don’t have ADHD?” Trevor asked with a laugh as they all stood.
Tanner scowled.
Trevor had taken off his sunglasses at the beginning of the speech and now he frowned. “It wasn’t an insult, man. Brayden has it and he just has a tough time sitting still is all. Reminded me of that.”
“Oh,” Tanner said. “Yeah, I don’t but I get why you asked.”
“Cool.” Trevor punched his upper arm. “Good playing with you, man, seriously.”
They hugged it out and when he was gone, Matty was cleaning up the plates on the table. Stacking them all up for whoever would come through and clean the room.
“So, do you just carry shit like this around in your pockets all the time?” Tanner asked, bouncing the ball in his hand.
Matty laughed and put a napkin on top of the stack. “Honestly, I didn’t even realize I had it in my pocket until I put this sweatshirt on today. But yeah, now that I have kids, I carry random stuff around all the time. I always have something for Reese when he’s feeling restless.”
Tanner thrust the ball back at him, stung again. “Dude, I’m not a child!”
“No.” Matty held up his hands, looking horrified, his voice soft. “No, buddy, I know that. But you seemed a little fidgety and I thought it would help. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or something.”
Tanner sighed, realizing he’d maybe overreacted a little. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I swear.” Matty gave him a little smile, then leaned in. “Like, we were all wishing that speech would wrap up sooner, you know?”
Tanner relaxed and they spent a few minutes bitching about the speech before they said goodbye, hugging and promising to keep in touch.
After, Matty practically sprinted out of the room, excited to get home to Toronto.
Tanner talked to a few more guys and hugged them and eventually ended up standing in front of Dustin Fowler.
Dustin smiled at him. “Before I forget, Charlie says hi and that you’re welcome to visit us any time in Toronto.”
“Awesome. Tell him hi from me. So cool that he flew into Chicago to watch you play and visit his bestie. Taylor’s a blast and it was fun hanging out with both of them last night at the bar.”
Dustin’s smile turned into a grin. “They’re a riot together, aren’t they? I always keep bail money on hand, just to be safe.”
Tanner laughed and agreed that was smart. The three of them had wound up dancing together at one point. Too bad Jesse hadn’t been there too. He’d been out celebrating the win with Team Canada.
Dustin and Tanner talked about last night’s post-game celebrations for a bit before Dustin had to go. “It was great playing with you,” he said. “You were a real asset. Hope to see you in some more international tournaments.”
After Dustin left, Tanner talked to a few more guys before he found himself face-to-face with Zane Murphy.
He complimented Tanner’s play, then said, “I just wanted you to know that I was glad to have you on the team and really impressed with your game during the tournament. I think you have a ton of skill already but I don’t think you’ve even come close to hitting your ceiling yet. ”